South Coast Sailboats

Outboard Motor relocated from stern box to rear of
the cotpit

This was a great upgrade for a lot of reasons. The steps involved
are fairly simple. First the motor was removed from the stern
box, and then the stern box was removed completely. Pretty easy
so far, right? Now comes the difficult part. You have to be willing
to cut a rectangular hole in the rear of the cotpit floor big
enough to pass your motor through, and then cut that same through
the hull plate directly below your previous hole. Once that has
been accomplished, you need to create the tunnel walls to join
the holes between the cotpit and lower hull. Again, so far not
too difficult, but messy, very messy. Now once this has been accomplished,
it is time for a little carpentry. You need to build to size a
new transom and bolt it into the rear of the cotpit and then install
the motor. This is a major modification that is not easily done,
but is very doable. Once installed, you will be amazed at how
your boat will handle. My boat will turn on a dime. Can almost
do a 360 degree turn in just over it's own boat length. Additionally,
this is fantastic for any kind of maneuvering. You can steer by
tiller or motor. This makes docking and mooring a cinch. Also
by moving the motor forward, the weight of the motor has less
leverage on the front to back center of gravity. (Another good
recommendation)